Baseball: Strong Pitching Leads WVU
March 27, 2010 06:21 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
March 27, 2010
 |
||
| Chris Enourato |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Strong outings from pitchers Andy Berry and Chris Enourato gave the West Virginia University baseball team a 5-2 victory over Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J.
Berry, a junior from Virginia Beach, allowed just one earned run on four hits in 4.2 innings pitched. Like pitcher Jarryd Summers in yesterday’s contest, Berry walked five batters in limited time but managed to get hitters out with runners on base. Seton Hall stranded 12 runners on the afternoon, just three shy of the most this season against the Mountaineers (12-11, 1-1).
Enourato (4-0) followed with another superb performance, getting the win by throwing 4.1 shutout innings while striking out six on four base hits. He made his 10th appearance of the season by entering with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, and proceeded to strike out Ryan Sullivan.
“That was a big turning point in the game,” coach Greg Van Zant said of Enourato’s strikeout. “Chris always competes and throws strikes. He deserved the win, and it was a big win for us.”
Enourato has not surrendered a run in five of his eight appearances this season in which he has pitched at least one inning. To date, the Bridgeport, W.Va., native has a 40:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Junior Jedd Gyorko and Grant Buckner shouldered the offense, combining for two of WVU’s biggest base hits. In the third inning with the Mountaineers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Gyorko led off with a double to right center. Two batters later, Buckner blasted his second home run of the season to left field to extend WVU’s advantage to 3-0.
Later in the fourth inning, Gyorko posted his second double in as many innings, lining an RBI shot to centerfield to score a hustling Chris Rasky from first base. In the sixth, pinch hitter Kevin Griffin added an insurance run for WVU with a run-scoring single to centerfield, making it 5-2. Matt Frazer helped make the run possible by stealing second base following his leadoff walk.
Gyorko led WVU by going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. His two doubles on the afternoon were his ninth and 10th of the season, respectively.
Dom Hayes extended his hitting streak to eight games with a bunt single in the ninth inning. Freshman Matt Malloy also had one of WVU’s seven base hits, smacking a double to centerfield in the third inning.
WVU faces Seton Hall in the rubber game of the series on Sunday, March 28. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
